Guardian Soul
by GomuGomuRasenganNoSage
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki wakes up to see himself on a pirate ship. Truth hits him hard when his memories suggest that he's the soul of that ship. Having nothing better to do he joins the crew with two goals: To protect and to figure just what had happened to him. Naruto x Robin x Nami
1. The Man Sealed in the Merry! Naruto!

**Guardian Soul Chapter One: The Man Sealed in the Merry! Naruto Uzumaki?!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece they are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda**

The current Time Period was known as "The Great Pirate Era". It was a time where there was a thirst for adventure in the world with a vast sea. The world's population was highly dominated with pirates. Many years prior a legendary speech was spoken. Gold Roger, or actually Gol. D. Roger, was spoken. A speech that issued the Great Pirate Era all at once. Pirates worldwide still continue to search for his treasure, the One Piece, the man said to get it would be known as the "Pirate King"!

In the large ocean of the Grand Line only a short distance away from the island of Alabasta was the Going Merry, the ship and crewmate of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Luffy stop eating all the food!" A blond member of the crew yelled at his captain, this was Sanji the cook.

The captain named Luffy grinned at the man before continuously snatching the food in the fridge. He turned his head behind to see Sanji approaching. In a very normal action to the crew the boy stretched his arms akin to rubber and launched away towards a higher part of the ship.

In the Crow's Nest of the ship was a green-haired man who was lifting three weights much heavier than his body. One rested in his mouth, and one other in each hand. The person was known as Roronoa Zoro the crew's swordsman. Zoro sighed as he heard the familiar ruckus of Sanji and Luffy fighting.

"LUFFY AND SANJI!" An angry feminine voice shouted. The two who were called gulped and sweatdropped and looked to see an orange-haired girl with an angry look approach them. She was Nami the crew's navigator.

Sanji grew hearts in his eyes as he saw her and began spinning around. "Nami-swan!" He called to her.

Only seconds later Nami looked down at a dazed Luffy and Sanji. Both men now carried several bumps and bruises courtesy of Nami.

"Nami-swan looks even lovelier when she's angry." Sanji murmured to himself still in daze.

"Quiet down I still have to finish my map of Alabasta." Nami huffed and then left back into her room.

Two other people exited the interior of the ship and looked around to see their Captain and Cook lying on the ground.

"Oi Luffy!" The dark-skinned human called. His most unique feature was a long nose; his name was Usopp the crew's sniper. Luffy turned his head to the person and gained stars in his eyes like a child.

The other person next to him was a strange addition to the crew. Actually it depended on your definition of strange. The person was literally a two-leg walking reindeer with a blue nose; his name was Chopper the doctor of the crew. Usopp had two arms extending out of his head making him seem to be a reindeer as well.

Luffy laughed along with Usopp and Chopper at the look. "Robin me too!" Luffy yelled in a childish voice.

A middle-aged woman sitting in a chair on the upper deck laughed at the antics of the crew her name was Nico Robin.

This was the Straw Hat Pirates, a strange bunch some others may say but to each other they were a well-knit family.

In the salty breeze of the noon Luffy walked through the ship and with a pout on his face. "Stupid Sanji not letting me take seconds." His stomach rumbled as if his stomach agreed with him.

Luffy's eyes scanned around the ship before something yellow caught his eyes. He looked at the floor to see a blond boy around his age, with three whisker marks on each cheek wearing an orange jumpsuit resting. He rubbed his eyes as if he was dreaming. He had looked at the floor once and the boy was still there.

"Oi! Was there ever anyone blond here with us?" Luffy asked.

"You idiot I'm blond." Sanji replied exiting the kitchen. "Why?" Sanji eyes looked to where Luffy was looking and his answer was questioned. "Who to hell is this?!"

"Luffy and Sanji what did I tell you about making so much noise?" Nami asked with an irritated expression. Luffy simply pointed to the ground as if to answer Nami untold question of what the noise was about. "Huh?"

"Hey Robin did you see this guy on the ship before we left Alabasta?" Nami questioned.

"As far I can tell I was the only one on." She replied and looked at the boy with interest.

"What's everyone looking at?" Usopp questioned along with Chopper in unison the three current lookers pointed to the blond. "Eh?"

"Is he hurt? Where's the doctor?!" Chopper shouted in panic. The current crewmates around him pointed at himself while sweat dropping. "Oh yea I'm the doctor." Chopper stated as he waved his arms around before getting serious.

"What's all the commotion about?" The green-haired swordsman inquired as he climbed down the crow's nest.

"Look at the ground baka marimo." Sanji insulted. Ignoring the insult Zoro looked at the ground.

"Is he dead?" Zoro bluntly questioned. As if to answer the question Luffy and Usopp began poking the blond with a stick that materialized from nowhere.

"You idiots! Just check if he's breathing!" Nami shouted at the two's idiocy.

"He's breathing, but his pulse is slower than normal." Chopper gulped realizing the intensity of the situation. In a matter of seconds the demeanor of the crew grew even tenser. "Someone carry him into the infirmary." As ordered Zoro picked him up and walked towards the right of the ship.

"It's the other way Zoro." Chopper informed, the green-haired swordsman honestly had no sense of direction. The reindeer was inside the infirmary for hours literally. By the time of dinner he still wasn't out yet.

"Chopper still isn't out with the mystery man." Luffy called with boredom.

"He was in there since noon." Usopp commented.

"Maybe he's dead." Robin neutrally commented on the matter.

Usopp slapped the air. "I'm starting to think you're more pessimistic then I am." The sniper muttered under his breath.

"Don't be so negative about it, besides Chopper's probably just making sure everything's all right." Nami added in.

"Hey guy's he's awake!" The voice of Chopper filled the room.

All members entered the small room of the infirmary and stared at the blond's blue eyes. The blond clutched his head as he stood up.

"How should I explain?" He questioned as he rubbed his chin. The crew raised their eyebrows. "I guess I should just say first that I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He shouted with a bit of cheer in his voice. Most of the crew sweat dropped at his cheerfulness all of a sudden all but Robin.

She looked at the blond with interest. 'I've heard of that name somewhere.' She thought. She nodded her head when the name came to mind once again.

"I'm-" Luffy began his introduction before being interrupted.

"Monkey D. Luffy the man who will be the King of the Pirates." The blond finished the captain's sentence. Luffy gained stars in his eyes.

"You can read my mind! You're like a mystery man!" Luffy looked with awe.

"I don't know how-" The blond didn't finish his sentence as he clutched his head again.

"He probably just saw one of your Wanted Posters." Nami concluded.

"No I haven't." Naruto quickly replied, the blond sighed as he clutched his head in pain once again. "It'd be hard to believe but I'm the soul of your ship." The blond straight out said.

"Eh?!"

"What are you trying to pull?" Sanji asked with suspicion.

"Even though I remember being somewhere else at one point I have all the memories of since the Merry was created." He explained.

"Wait a minute if he actually is the soul of the merry then he'll know about everything that's happened on it." Usopp stated as he looked at the blond. "Where did we get the Merry?" Usopp asked. It was a question that only the members of the crew and/or a certain ally of the crew would know.

The blond clutched his head in pain before answering. "Syrup Village." Everyone's face took a look of shock. Either this Naruto Uzumaki was a stalker or he actually was the soul of the ship.

"If you were the soul of it then why didn't you appear till now? " Zoro asked. His question was pretty reasonable to ask compared to his earlier ones.

"I don't actually know." He said as he scratched his head sheepishly.

"You're not lying?" The rubber captain asked and Naruto nodded his head. Luffy rubbed his chin briefly before slamming his hand on his palm. "Then join my crew."

"Huh?" Naruto simply muttered.

"Like I said join my crew." Luffy repeated.

Naruto closed his eyes in thought before answering. "Sure."

Hours later after dark most of the crew were sleeping, all except the two newest members. Naruto sat cross-legged as he thought over the current set of events.

'The last thing I remember is fighting in the war.' He clutched his head in thought. Naruto tensed as he turned around to see Robin. "You're Robin right?" Naruto asked unnecessarily. He already knew who she was to begin with.

She nodded before moving closer to him. "I see you're in deep thought." She noted.

He nodded. "I don't actually ever remember being a part of this ship. I remember actually participating in a war."

Robin raised her eyebrow. "You wouldn't mean the 4th Shinobi World War would you?" He stood up quickly and grabbed her shoulders.

"You know what it is?!" He asked before realizing what he did. He sheepishly scratched his head before moving his hands off her. "Hehe sorry about that."

"No problem." She calmly said. Honestly Naruto would have been expecting a slap or something.

"So do you know anything else about it?" He asked eagerly he needed any answers he could get.

"All I know is that it happened 10,000 years before the Era of Pirates began from what I've gathered. It was ruled by Ninja in population and a main fighter was Naruto Uzumaki but that's really all I know." She finished.

"So I'm like a legend? Wait what do mean gathered you're saying there are places where I can find the information?" He asked completely not shocked of being in the future. She nodded. "Where can I find them then?"

"They're scattered everywhere across the Grand Line I can't even tell where most of them are." She said depressing Naruto's mood a little bit.

"Well I guess I'll search for them!" He had made up his mind rather quickly. "By the way what am I searching for?" He sheepishly scratched his head at his insolence.

She chuckled with mirth being the emotion in her brown eyes. "You'd probably find your answer where I found the information I gave you, in a Rio Poneglyph. They appear to be giant blocks with history written in them most likely in a different language." She wisely explained.

"So I'm guessing you're looking for them too?" Naruto asked with excitement. His answers may have been far but the Uzumaki always had a great sense of adventure.

"Yea I'm looking for information on the Void Century." She silently chuckled here she was telling her hopes and dreams to someone she had just met.

"Void century?"

"It's a time period that not really known since the World Government doesn't allow the research of it." Robin answered.

"I guess to repay you for giving me this information I'll help you find the Poneglyphs about it." The blond stated already having made up his mind.

She slightly frowned but quickly hid it. "I appreciate the help but honestly I don't need it." She said hiding her discomfort Naruto raised his eyebrows noticing the façade.

"I've already decided it's too late. I'll help you, that's a promise and I never break those." He smiled before yawning and heading to bed leaving a slight frown on Robin's face which the blond didn't see.

She mainly had a few thoughts running in her mind, ones that made her frown. It wasn't Naruto, in her little time of getting to know him he seemed to be a nice person. It wasn't the crew, they had accepted her on will something that had never happened to her before.

Her thoughts were focused on what may happen in the future. If THEY may come back to find her, would she have to run away again losing all the trust and friendship the crew had given to her. She felt as if she was dragging each and every one of them into a huge trap and Naruto offering to help in he studies of Poneglyphs was only moving them in deeper.

The next morning Naruto sat at a table across from the long nosed sniper. He was told that when a member joined that they were questioned.

"Name?" The sniper asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blond calmly replied.

"Specialties?" The man asked.

"Fighting!" The blond yelled.

"Occupation?"

"…" It was a question Naruto hadn't but should've expected. "As a way to repay you back for taking good care of "me"…" Naruto stated putting emphasis on the word me, it felt pretty weird to refer to himself as the ship. "I'll be your guardian!"

Luffy raised his eyebrow before a grin made its way to his face. "So you can fight right?" Luffy asked still maintaining his grin.

"Are you kidding I've beat an entire army, and defeated some of the strongest people I knew!" He laughed.

"Alright then let's fight!" The captain ordered as he cracked his knuckles.

"He can't." Chopper said. "His heartbeat rate is still slower than average it may hurt his body if he were to fight." Luffy frowned at the fact.

"Can you at least show us a technique?" Luffy asked, his face perked up when Naruto nodded.

"Kage No Bunshin!" They blond shouted with no hand signs. A cloud of smoke covered Naruto for a second before quickly dispersing.

"So what he made a cloud of smoke." Zoro said before his eyes widened when the smoke disappeared.

Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp's eyes gained stars at the sight before them. Where once stood one Naruto now stood two.

"Sugoi!" Luffy yelled as he moved up to touch them, they were both solid so they weren't illusions. Zoro and Sanji looked dumbfounded while Nami and Robin looked slightly shocked.

"So you must have eaten a devil fruit?" Nami questioned. Her reply was in the form of Naruto shaking his head.

"B-But how's that possible then?" Sanji asked still quite dumbfounded.

"It was techniques that the people I knew used, they were called jutsu." He explained.

"So you can do more of it?" Chopper asked.

"Yep." Naruto quickly dispersed the clone and held out his palm. Slowly a ball of blue light formed in it.

"WOW!" The three exclaimed as they watched it. Naruto laughed seeing their expressions before allowing the ball to disperse.

Luffy's stomach rumbled as his thought process quickly switched. "Sanji when's lunch?" He asked.

Sanji looked towards the sky before moving into the kitchen. "I guess I should start cooking it's around noon anyway."

Everyone else resumed what they had previously been doing. Naruto entered the kitchen finding not6hing better to do.

"Anything I can help you with?" The blond questioned. His fellow blond gave him a critical eye.

"I still don't trust you." He openly spoke causing Naruto to sigh.

"I had a feeling you didn't but I can prove I'm actually the soul of the ship." He moved closer to Sanji and whispered something in his ears causing the cook's eyes to widen.

"What color?" He asked.

"Orange." The blond quickly replied. Sanji quickly swirled out the door only seconds later.

"SANJI YOU PERVERT!" Nami yell coursed through the ship. Only seconds later Sanji walked in with bruises and scratches and a bit of blood running down his nose.

"You were right." He goofily said with a smile on his face. Naruto chuckled.

'I can't believe he actually checked if her underwear was actually that color.' Naruto thought.

After Sanji settled down Naruto assisted in making the first half of lunch before exiting. He walked into the infirmary to see Chopper just working on a paper.

"Naruto you came just in time I have to make sure if your heart is working ok." Chopper told the blond. Naruto nodded and sat down. "Take off your shirt I have to see if the slowed heartbeat is having any effects on your body."

Naruto followed as ordered and took off the top part of his jumpsuit. Chopper looked over the boy's check in shock and gasped.

"What is there anything wrong?" Naruto questioned in concern.

"No but the scar on your body." Chopper made out. On Naruto's chest was a large scar that was placed where his heart was. "How'd you get it?" Chopper asked in horror.

Naruto shook his head. "…" He made his hair shadow his eyes as his body grew extremely tense. Chopper noticed and calmed down.

"I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories or anything." He began with sadness in his voice.

"No problem it's just something personal." He said a bit plainly.

Chopper quickly moved on not wanting to continue to build on the saddening atmosphere. "It doesn't seem that your body is taking any effects even though your heartbeat is still slow."

"So is everything alright for now?"

"Yea just come see me if you experience anything unusual." Chopper replied. Naruto nodded and smiled.

"You're a good doctor Chopper." The blond praised.

"Shut up baka I'm not happy at the appraisal." Chopper oddly said as he waved around with a smile.

Naruto chuckled before walking out, and moving onto the crow's nest. He looked inside to see Zoro lifting weights. The swordsman must have not noticed the blond because he kept his attention on the weights.

"You must be crazy about training." Naruto stated causing Zoro to move out of his trance.

Zoro raised his eyebrow at Naruto appearance before sighing. "I won't easily believe you like Ero-cook." He simply stated as he looked at the blond. Naruto sighed once again.

"I really don't have anything that would make you believe me." Naruto said. He actually wasn't sure himself if he was actually the soul of the Going Merry, even though his memories suggested it.

Shortly after that Naruto moved to another room of the ship. Inside he saw Usopp messing around with some chemicals. Usopp looked up from his experiments to see the blond enter.

"Naruto, have you come to see the Great Captain Usopp in his workplace?" Usopp said with a grin. Naruto nodded causing Usopp to move his long nose up. "I guess I could teach you a thing or two."

Naruto watched as Usopp messed with a bottle with red liquids with a skull sign of death. Usopp extracted some of the substance inside a small ball.

"I have an idea for one of your attacks." Naruto declared after some thought about his fighting style. He whispered in his ear something. Usopp grew a face of deep thought before nodding.

"That'll help in lots of situations." He replied with a smile. "How many can you give me?"

"Probably a couple hundred." Naruto answered. "I'll get to you whenever I can."

It was only shortly after that he left to explore another part of the ship. He entered another room to see maps scattered everywhere in a disorganized fashion.

He looked around and saw no one in so in a matter of minutes with the use of his Shadow Clone Jutsu the whole room was clean and tidy. It was only a minute after that the door to the room opened. Naruto turned around to see Nami looking at the room with wide eyes.

He smiled as he sheepishly scratched his head. "I saw it was a little messed up so I decided to organize it."

"It was like that for days I never thought I would have the time to clean it." She said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much!" Cleaning all of that wasn't Nami's strong suit especially with having to manage so many maps at once.

"It was nothing." He smiled. "Your maps are pretty detailed by the way."

"I try my best. I've been drawing maps since I was a child too." She asserted. "One day I hope to draw a map of the world!" She slightly shouted with determination. "It does sound a little silly but I really hope that I'm able to do it."

"It's not silly at all. I use to have a dream to become the head of where I lived, a lot of people tried to deter me out of it by I kept trying. Even though I may have never managed to do it I never thought once that it was silly at all." He smiled remembering his past a little bit.

"You did say that you used to be somewhere else before you found yourself with the Merry. You have any idea where it could be?" Naruto shook his head at her question. "Maybe we'll cross it while we're on the Grand Line." She reassured him.

"Yea maybe." He hoped they somehow did end up on it. 'The whole Elemental Land probably ended up being separated into separate islands.'

Next Naruto found himself on the upper deck of the ship next to Robin who was reading a book. She slightly closed the book to look at her company. "Anything I can help you with Uzumaki-san?" She questioned adding in the honorifics.

"No reasons to call me by my last name just call me Naruto or even Naruto-kun is fine." She nodded."So why're you reading a book?" He asked. "It's the Grand Line a pirate's whole adventure waits here!" He said slightly getting pumped.

"I find this book interesting." She simply replied as she closed her book fully. "Have you read any books Naruto-kun?"

"Yea, I actually went to school as well." Naruto answered, not many people currently attended a place where they got education. All they really learned was to read and write and that's it. "If you attended school where I live you probably would have became a ninja or a person who supports behind the scenes."

She nodded at his explanation before opening her book once again only to have it snatched from the blond accompanying her.

"Come on Robin it wouldn't hurt to lay off a book once and a while." He smiled watching her trying to grab the book.

After finally giving up trying to retain her book she replied. "Then it wouldn't be hard for you to read a book as well." He laughed before handing her the book back.

'Naruto-kun how much do you know about the members of the crew?" Robin asked in the comfortable silence between them.

"Pretty much everything from likes, fighting styles, and even history." He said answering the same question.

Robin's eyes widened at the last thing he stated. "So you know about my past too?" She said sadly.

Naruto frowned before giving her a nod causing her to deepen her face in her book.

"But honestly I don't care, pasts are bullshit to me." He straightforwardly said. She looked at shocked.

"But…" She began before being interrupted.

"Like I said Robin it doesn't matter. I'm the guardian of the crew anyway if someone comes to take you." He cracked his fist. "I'll kick their ass. Plus everyone else wouldn't give up without a fight too." He smiled at her.

She turned her face back to her book to hide her apparent blush from coming in contact with Naruto's eyes.

A little bit later, Naruto looked around to find Luffy sitting on the head of the Merry. The boy must've noticed him because his face perked up when he saw him. The devil fruit eater stretched his arms onto Naruto's shoulders.

"Naruto help me get into the fridge." The young boy whispered.

Naruto raised his eyebrow to question Luffy. In response the boy's stomach rumbled. "I know you're hungry but why me?"

"You can create clones and turn into other people." Luffy explained once again gaining stars in his eyes.

Naruto sighed before he created a clone that looked exactly like Nami. The clone Nami entered the kitchen and seconds later came back out with a plate of food. In-between chewing Luffy thanked Naruto.

After that the two took a fishing rod and began quickly sitting and waiting for the fish to bite while conversing on random topics all together.

**A/N: So how was it? I tried to make a good understanding of everything before introducing Naruto. After that I tried to make him get closer in friendship and trust with most of the crew. Now to explain somethings.**

**Naruto is not the strongest but he is stronger than others. I won't have him defeating every enemy in his path because currently he doesn't have the power to do that. As will be shown in the next chapter Naruto has many missing techniques for reasons that will be explained further along the story. Honestly right now I can't really rank his power but I'd definitely categorize him among the same tier of Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro, maybe even slightly higher.**

**As for pairings if you didn't know already. The pairing is Naruto x Robin and I MAY add Nami if the majority of voters agree, so I'll be posting a poll soon so that you guys can vote.**

**That's pretty much all for now, so make sure to review and tell me how it was. See ya!**


	2. The Island in the Sky! Dreamless City!

**Guardian Soul Chapter Two: The Island in the Sky?! The Dreamless City!**

**A/N: Thanks for the support! Keep it up!**

The stomachs of Luffy, Naruto, Usopp, and Chopper growled as they all held there fishing rods with hope. It was only two days since Naruto had joined the crew and for the most part he was welcomed right in, though Zoro was still slightly cautious of him the two finally had found some common ground.

Currently the crew had no food because of a stunt pulled by Luffy the previous day. Which really only meant that Luffy had all the food again. So now until they docked on another island it was up to the four of them to provide fish and meat from sea kings for them to eat.

"The fish aren't biting at all." Naruto sighed.

"Meat…" Luffy groaned as his stomach growled once again.

""Maybe you should have thought of meat before you ate all the food." Usopp said.

"Hey guys I think I'm pulling something in!" Chopper shouted with a smile as he tried to hold on to his rod with his little body. All four grabbed the rod and pulled with food on their mind.

"This must be a big Sea King." Usopp said while struggling to pull.

Luffy licked his lips in anticipation as he felt the animal giving up. "MEAT!" He shouted as they finally pulled the fish up. Their smiles quickly changed into frowns when they saw what they had really pulled up. It was just a small fish…

The breeze of day ominously blew pass their ears ominously as they remain quiet looking at the fish. The fish along with the rod fell in the water as all four sighed in defeat.

"Did you guys get any fish?" Sanji asked as he made his way out a room of the ship. They shook their heads. "Damn." Sanji sighed.

"Still no food?" Zoro asked as he made his way down the Crow's Nest. Once again the four shook their heads making all men of the crew groan.

The door to Nami's navigation room moved open as Nami made her way out with her eyes locked on her Log Pose.

"That's strange my Log Pose is pointing upwards." Nami told the crew, the members raised their eyebrow as they looked towards the sky.

"Then it must be locked on a Sky Island." Robin calmly said from her position on the upper deck. "And it probably had a strong magnetic field to change the Log Pose midway."

"A Sky Island? That seems interesting. Zoro simply spoke. The crew turned their head to the sky once again as they heard something soaring through the sky. Their eyes widened as they saw a HUGE ship falling.

"What the hell?!" Sanji yelled as his cigarette fell out of his mouth.

"A… A GALLEON FALLING FROM THE SKY!" Nami yelled.

"F-Falling from the sky." A dumbfounded Luffy made out.

"H-How is that even possible!" Naruto yelled.

The galleon crashed onto the water with tons of force. Massive waves came to birth from the impact causing the ship to shake under the pressure. Many more pieces fell as the waves made contact with the Merry, and if that wasn't a good sign a major creek was heard from their ship.

"Hold on to the ship!" Sanji ordered.

"This has to be a nightmare." Usopp yelled as he held onto the mast.

"Usopp you can stop it right?" Chopper questioned. "You are the Great Captain Usopp."

"I'm afraid even the Great Captain Usopp can't stop this." Usopp said through comical tears.

"Is everyone on the lower deck?" Naruto questioned. He felt relieved to see everyone alright.

"Naruto grab onto something or you'll be washed away in the current!" Luffy shouted over the gigantic splashes of water.

"It's fine! Plus I can' just let you guys get hurt from all this." Naruto said with a smile. "So just hang tight alright?"

"What are you going to do?" Nami questioned along with the rest of the crew.

Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Watch." He said as he stood mid-center of the ship. Naruto raised his hands up in a swift motion.

Slowly the ship moved, not right, not left, but up. As crazy as it seemed the ship was floating above the water. The crew looked on awe at the display but Naruto groaned at the effort he was putting on. He closed his right fist.

Next he clenched his left fist and brought it together with his right fist causing a shockwave to eject from the Merry from all sides. When they hit the waves everything calmed down, the waves, the pieces of ship falling, even the crew.

Naruto took several deep breaths before turning around to look at the shocked crew.

"Everybody ok?" He asked they nodded causing him to smile. "Good because I could never forgive myself if you guys got hurt…" He began. Slowly he fell forward not seeming to stop his fall. "Because I couldn't protect you guys." He finished and then completely fell and collapsed to the ground unconscious. He wasn't awake long enough to see everyone rush over to his side.

-Hour Later-

Naruto's eyes fluttered open. The blond looked around to see where he was. He was in the Infirmary. It was then that he finally remembered what he had done. He really didn't mind the pain though. He stood up and left the infirmary to finally be on the outer part of the ship.

"How long was I out we're already docked on an island?" The blond asked to himself.

"Only for an hour Naruto-kun." He heard someone answer. He turned around to see Robin.

"Robin-chan!" Naruto called seeing her. Robin looked at him and moved off the upper deck. He watched as she approached and in one motion slapped him.

"Everyone wanted me to hit you for what you did. They were really worried about you." She said calmly. "I have to admit it was a pretty stupid idea." She stated her opinion. 'Even I was worried that you had gotten really hurt.' She thought privately.

"I'm just happy you're all ok." He smiled.

"Oh Naruto you're finally awake." Naruto heard someone say. He saw Sanji walking up to him. "So just what the hell did you do back there?" Sanji emphasized. It was a pretty crazy stunt.

"I lifted the ship and sent an air wave to calm the waves." Naruto replied. "It was only an idea so I wasn't sure if it was even worst."

"So you really are the Merry's soul." Robin said.

"Yep! You can think about this as my human form and the Merry as my ship form." Naruto explained.

"Is there anything else you can do?" Sanji asked with curiosity.

"Not that I know of I guess if there's any situation I'll just wing it, even though it really hurts." Naruto answered while looking on the surface of the ship. "But that's the job of the ship of a crew right? To take the pain of the crew and still keep going."

"Yea but you're really hurt now; Chopper even said that your heartbeat per second is lowering." Robin explained she had a slight frown on her face.

"That's weird that shouldn't happen to me unless…" Naruto's eyes widened. "Tell me what the ship's current condition?!"

"Ever since Alabasta some of it's been falling apart." Sanji answered after thinking it over. "Usopp has been filling in the role of shipwright by patching it up but even he's not an expertise at it."

"Damn I should've known!" Naruto cursed as his fist slammed down on the table.

"Is something wrong Naruto-kun?" She asked seeing his surprised face.

"N-Nothing just mad that I didn't realize the ship's condition." Naruto chuckled. Sanji and Robin raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. "I'm going to head into town want to come?" He hastily asked changing the subject.

"I can't Usopp and Chopper want me to stay and guard the ship." Sanji sighed.

"I was going to head into town to look for some information, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami had already left to look as well." Robin added.

"Alright then let's go!" Naruto yelled. He grabbed Robin hand and jumped with her off the ship. He couldn't see her slightly blushing face since she was behind him.

'Why am I blushing?' Robin thought with an unconscious smile. She'd been touched by several people before **(A/N: Not in a dirty way… perverts xD) **but this is the first time she'd ever had a reaction by it. Robin smiled seeing that it was only her and Naruto walking alone.

The two could now be found in the middle of Mock Town. Robin had explained everything Chopper had told her. He frowned at the information but put it aside. Not only that but she told him about how they planned to get to Sky Island. He grinned at the thought of actually managing to make it to the island.

"You sure you don't to come with me Robin-chan?" Naruto asked as he approached the bar.

"Yea I need to search around for some information regarding the Sky Island." She replied before walking off frowning that she couldn't continue to walk with him. 'I want to keep walking with him but I don't know why.' Robin thought with wonder.

Naruto entered the bar to hear a gun shot. He looked to see a blond man shoot someone 4 times then knock them out the window. He moved and sat down next to the blond who held a gun. Looking on the table he saw playing cards.

"Oh you're playing cards? Let's go a round." Naruto said with a smile.

His fellow blond looked at him with a smirk. "Sure." The man sat down and made his smirk turn into a devilish one.

Minutes passed in their game. "I win!" Naruto yelled with a smile.

"You…" Bellamy grabbed his hand but Naruto didn't notice.

"OI Luffy, Zoro, Nami!" Naruto called as he escaped his grasp. "You can keep your money." Naruto ran outside to meet up with his friends. Bellamy looked at his fellow blond exit with anger but let it go.

"Naruto that thing you did was so cool!" Luffy shouted with awe. "You even made the whole ship fly!"

"That was pretty cool how'd you even do it?" Zoro questioned.

"I don't know I just imagined me moving it and it worked." Naruto explained.

"Baka!" Nami yelled as she hit him. "So you mean it could've failed." Naruto nodded while rubbing his head. "So what if you fell into the water no one would have had the time to save you."

"Nami's right Naruto, that was pretty risky." Zoro commented. "But you must be pretty strong to withstand that pain." He smirked while laying a hand on his swords. "It makes me want to have a fight with you."

"Hey Zoro I called dibs first!" Luffy argued.

"Don't worry I'll fight both of you when we're on the Sky Island." Naruto said breaking up there fight. Luffy and Zoro nodded with smirks each on their faces.

"And while we're there we might as well get you some new clothes as well." Nami said as she touched Naruto's jumpsuit.

"It can't be that bad." Naruto replied.

"Doesn't matter anyway once the Marines begin to recognize you as part of the crew they'll easily spot you with this on. So as soon as we find a shop on the Sky Island we're going shopping!" Nami said with a smirk.

"When you're there look for the least expensive clothes you can buy so that Nami won't give you-" Zoro began advising before being interrupted.

"What was that you were saying Zoro?" Nami asked as she came up behind him with a dark face.

"N-Nothing." Zoro hastily replied. Luffy chuckled while Naruto raised an eyebrow at the actions.

The four soon entered a bar. To ask for information, the bar looked pretty common; it was moderately packed and filled with the smell of rum. They sat down on the bar table seats.

"Can I get some Miso Ramen?" The bartender nodded at Naruto's question. Naruto turned his head towards Luffy to see the rubber man arguing with some man. They were both quickly hushed by the bartender though and the man left.

The door to the bar swung multiple times signaling that someone left and a ton of people came in.

"Oh no it's them, the Bellamy Pirates!" One person in the bar shouted as he along with a bunch of other people left.

"Is a boy with a Straw Hat here?" He heard someone ask. Naruto and Luffy turned their heads to the man.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled with a smile, Bellamy cocked his head towards his fellow blond and put a look of disgust on his face before replacing it with a fake smile.

"You know that guy Naruto?" Nami asked as she looked at the guy slightly worried, she really didn't want to make a scene here.

"We played cards in a bar I beat him but still he was pretty good."Naruto replied.

"Give me some rum and give Straw Hat whatever he wants." Bellamy said sitting down next to Luffy.

"What a nice person." Luffy said with a smile. Nami and Zoro gave the man a suspicious look.

Luffy drank his rum with a grin on his face while Bellamy smirked and slammed Luffy down on the counter. Nami's eyes widened at the action.

She looked to her sides to see Naruto and Zoro in different positions. Zoro held his Wado Ichimonji pointed across Bellamy's torso while Naruto had a kunai hanging near his neck. Bellamy felt some sweat roll down his neck at his current position.

His whole crew looked at it in surprise but quickly changed it to smirks. "Bellamy's just acting like he's trapped but he actually is just faking it." One pirate said.

"Naruto, Zoro let me kick his ass!" Luffy shouted as he got back up, his Straw Hat was down on the floor exposing his black hair.

"We don't have time for this." Nami said as she looked at the situation. "Hey old man do you know anything about the Sky Island?!"

The whole bar went quiet for a second as they looked at her. "What did she just say?" One person asked. And then just like that the whole bar was dying with laughter causing Nami's face to redden.

"That Sky Island is just a myth." A pirate in the bar said.

"But the Log Pose is pointing towards the sky!" Nami replied.

"Log Poses malfunction all the time." Bellamy said while chuckling. "The only current in the Grand Line that could cause you to get in the sky would be the Knock Up Stream but anything that get hit by that comes right down. Some people claim there's a Sky Island but they have no proof."

Bellamy turned his head to Luffy. "I was going to invite you to join my crew but it seems you have your head stuck in the clouds along with almost every other pirate." Bellamy continued. "The City of Gold, The Emerald City, The Sky Island, The "Biju Legend", The Legend of Naruto Uzumaki, The great Treasure "One Piece", all dreams that people spend their time searching or finding information for and don't focus on reality." Luffy's clenched fists turned into open palms at his words. "Dreams are useless; the world is turning into era where the ones without real strength are killed by their silly imaginations." Naruto looked at Bellamy with a glare.

"Don't fight." Luffy said as he kept his seat on the ground." He watched as bottle, mugs, and glasses were thrown his way but didn't respond. Naruto moved his kunai down and walked away from Bellamy's side.

'Dreams are useless?' Nami thought after hearing Bellamy's words. It was then the words of Naruto entered her mind.

"_It's not silly at all. I use to have a dream to become the head of where I lived, a lot of people tried to deter me out of it by I kept trying. Even though I may have never managed to do it I never thought once that it was silly at all."_

"The Sky Island's not a silly myth!" Nami shouted causing the whole bar to turn their attention to her.

"Shut up! You are making my rum taste bad!" One shouted.

Nami looked as a bottle moved in to hit her and she closed her eyes. The bottle smashed and cracked but not on her. She opened her eyes to see the familiar orange jumpsuit of Naruto. The blond's hands were spread across to show that he was protecting her.

"Naruto why are you?" She questioned as she heard the continuous bottles crash against his body.

He turned his head around with a smile "What does it look like?" He simply replied with a question. She could the blood dripping down his face from when a bottle crashed against his skin. Soon enough Luffy, Zoro, and Naruto had blood flowing down their face but nonetheless the captain's order was kept and they didn't fight.

After a few more minutes of being hit with bottles and mugs, punched, kicked, and tossed around by Bellamy, and hearing the snarky talk of his crew Nami left carrying the Luffy and Zoro with Naruto following close behind her. She quietly walked ahead quietly not feeling in the mood to talk quite yet.

"Oi!" Someone called as Nami walked through the town. "You were the one looking for Sky Island?" She looked to see who was speaking to her. It was the man who Luffy was arguing with in the pub. The orange-haired girl dropped Luffy and Zoro and looked at the man raising an eyebrow.

"Why such the sad face?" The man questioned as he drank some rum from the pub. "They were the ones who really won. Some battles are pointless!" The man yelled while exploding into laughter.

"It's not that..." Nami began before sighing and walking away from the sight.

"Nami!" Naruto yelled and tried running after her.

"Wait Blondie!" The man called to him. "Straw Hat you listen as well." He said seeing Luffy and Zoro stand up, they both gave him a neutral stare. "The "New Era" they talk about is bullshit! A PERSON'S DREAMS WILL NEVER DIE!" The man yelled with a chuckle.

"I've been around long enough to know that." Naruto said as he looked at the man before running off after Nami. Zoro walked away leaving Luffy to only stare at the man leave before also moving away from the scene.

"Nami-chan!" Naruto yelled as he shortened the distance between them to a mere amount. "What wrong?" He asked seeing her not stopping. "If you aren't mad at what happened at the pub then what is it?"

She abruptly stopped and turned around to look at him, her eyes were hidden by her orange hair.

"I guess it's my fault that you guys got hurt." She simply said.

"That's it? Then don't worry you were just trying to help us find information on the Sky Island." Naruto assured.

"If I hadn't brought the dumb thing up again they wouldn't have done it though." She sighed as she removed the hair from her face revealing her eyes that were filled with guilt.

"Nami do you believe in Sky Island?" Naruto asked.

"What type of question is that? Of course I do!" Nami fierce fully replied.

"Then why would you call it dumb? If you believe in it then don't regret it! Plus to Luffy, Zoro, and me what they did was nothing!" He shouted. "So don't feel guilty about it ok?"

She nodded and watched Naruto give her a foxy grin making her smile as well. She wasn't sure about it but Naruto's words are digging deeper into her than she was conscious of. They made it to the ship a few minutes later shortly followed by Luffy and Zoro.

"So what happened into you guys? How many monsters did you fight?" He questioned as he watched Chopper place bandages on their heads.

"Just some bastards taking bullshit nothing serious." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Did Nami-swan get hurt?!" Sanji burst in with worry on his face.

"No, Naruto blocked her from getting hurt." Zoro said. Nami nodded with an unconscious smile on her. While Naruto scratched his sheepishly while nodding as well.

"Why didn't you just beat them up?" Usopp replied. He was sure enough that Luffy and Zoro could take out almost anyone in their way, he hadn't really seen Naruto fight but it was safe to say that he was strong enough as well.

"Naruto it wasn't good to let yourself get beaten up like that." Chopper said as he finished putting bandages on the blond. "You're already in a bad condition enough." He continued with concern.

"Don't worry Chopper I feel fine!" Naruto reassured the reindeer.

"Anyway I see you've been patching me up!"

Usopp looked at Naruto with confusion before understanding. "You mean the Merry? Yea I've been fixing it up whenever a piece of her breaks off."

"You mean him." Naruto corrected. Naruto heard a chuckle come from the dock a very light and familiar one.

"I'm back." The familiar voice of Robin was heard in everyone's ears.

"Oi! Robin-chan!" Naruto shouted with a grin. Robin walked onto the ship and smiled at Naruto as she carried several bags.

"Robin! You must have found some information on the Sky Island right?" Nami asked in desperation. The woman in cowgirl fashioned attire nodded and passed the crew a map.

"I've found out that on the other side of Jaya there's a man who was exiled from the land for speaking of his dreams, his name is Montblanc Cricket. I've heard he may know something about Sky Island." And with that she entered the woman's quarters of the ship.

Usopp's ears moved as his head moved to the sea where he heard an extremely familiar sound.

" Sal-Vage! Sal-Vage! " Usopp heard making his face morph into one of horror.

"Luffy!" He shouted with panic. "That monkey guy." Naruto raised his eyebrow.

"Naruto you weren't awake to see it but after the ship stopped falling we started salvaging the ship and this guy who looked like a monkey was also salvaging with his crew." Chopper hastily said while he and Usopp ran around.

"We're going to die!" They repeatedly screamed Naruto chuckled at their actions. **(A/N: Don't know how to put this part so I'm just going to skip a little bit.)**

"He's making his own ship fall apart." Usopp said while he looked at the ship. The man who was brother to the previous monkey look-a-like was sending extremely strong sound waves to his ship causing it to break. Naruto looked down after feeling a shocking sensation to see the Merry starting to crack.

"Hurry on and get the ship out of here it's starting to break me apart literally!" Naruto shouted.

Naruto sighed in relief minutes later to see the ship far away from Shoujou and his ship. The ship's floor slightly breaking apart left a stinging pain, it wasn't extreme pain but it was… troublesome.

"At this rate the ship will break apart and totally collapse." Sanji said while putting in a nail on the ship.

"Maybe we should get a new one." Zoro bluntly stated.

"Shut up Zoro!" Naruto and Usopp yelled.

"You can't just replace me like that." Naruto said.

"You have to admit though it's been breaking apart a lot of times." Nami mentioned.

"But we can't just replace it even if it is damaged." Usopp commented.

"Don't worry Naruto and the Going Merry are nakama to us we won't just replace them." Luffy said with a grin from his end of the ship. He slammed his hammer into the nail and a whole area of where he was fixing broke from the ship.

"Not helping with the problem Luffy." Usopp roared smacking the air.

"So what would happen if the ship was destroyed Naruto?" Nami asked.

Naruto averted his eyes from theirs he could see everyone's eyes dart in his direction. He could feel sweat rolling down his neck from their looks.

"Maybe he'd become a wandering spirit looking for somewhere else to inhabit." Luffy joked.

"Or would become a spirit of the sea." Usopp joined in.

"Or become a merman." Chopper joked.

"Like this." Luffy said after scribbling on a sheet of paper and revealing it to show a fish with legs.

"No Luffy that's terrible." Usopp implied after observing the image.

"So what would happen?" Sanji asked after blowing out of his cigarette.

"I'd probably die." Naruto said after looking back at them once again. He watched their reactions, Luffy looked at him with wide eyes, Zoro dropped his weights, Nami's eyes were twitching in disbelief, Usopp dropped his hammer on his foot, Sanji's cigarette had dropped from his mouth, Chopper's hat had fell from his head which was a pretty weird sight, and if he had heard closely he could tell he heard Robin gasp.

"Naruto's going to die!" Chopper wailed as he ran around screaming with tears flowing down your face.

"Don't worry Chopper I'm here to stay. I won't let myself fall apart." Naruto assured with a smile calming the reindeer down.

'I don't want him to die.' Robin and Nami both simultaneously thought.

"I won't let it happen." Luffy said Naruto looked at Luffy raising an eyebrow. "I won't let you die." He continued.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Even if the Merry were to break and you'd die I wouldn't allow it." Luffy asserted. Naruto sweat dropped along with everyone else.

"Luffy it's not that easy to do that." Zoro countered with a nod from everyone else.

"I'll do it it's a promise!" Luffy exclaimed with a grin and held out his hand. Naruto gave a whole-hearted smile and laugh before taking the hand and looking at Luffy with a serious demeanor.

"Then it's a promise and if you can't do it I guess I just picked the wrong crew to join." He seriously said but still kept his everlasting smile along with Luffy.

On this day a promise between two men was made. A promise made between a captain and his trusted ship.

**A/N: So that's it I would have just finished the Jaya Arc in one go but honestly I wanted to post this since those dreadful things we call exams are coming. I won't be able to post another chapter for a week so sorry about that.**

**Onto the story apologize for how close it was to canon but remember this is only Chapter Two and there are still lots of room for development including the Skypeia, hint hint. And if you didn't realize the poll which was very one-sided is closed. Nami has won with the final result being Yes: 16 No: 2. The pairing is now officially Naruto x Robin x Nami. As you may have seen during this chapter Robin and Nami are slowly developing feelings for Naruto without knowing it. I'm trying to make things go at a slow pace so it doesn't seemed rushed. Love doesn't happen in ten minutes it takes time.**

**Also, about Naruto's techniques I was going to do an event where he and Zoro beat up a certain group of people but I scrapped it up since it wouldn't balance with what I have planned later. They will almost definitely fight during the Skypeia Arc along with Naruto vs. Luffy.**

**Now to answer some questions, Naruto is not a ghost, though he is the soul of the ship the Merry is his ship form and the Naruto Uzumaki body is his human form. Questions about Naruto's techniques and what he can do with the ship or future event will NOT be answered you'll just have to wait and see.**

**Sorry for the long author's note. That's pretty much all for now so thanks for the support and keep it up! Thanks!**


	3. Bonds of the Crew I

**Guardian Soul Chapter Three: Bonds of the Crew I**

**Thanks for the support guys! Keep it up!**

"Gaki!" Someone shouted.

"Marimo!" Another shouted in reply.

"You want to fight because I'm ready whenever!" A green haired swordsman shouted. It was Zoro shouting at the latest addition of the crew Naruto. His hands grasped at the three swords being held by his side.

"Calm down guys we promised we wouldn't fight till we get to the Sky Island." Luffy, the cause of the problem, stated trying to stop their argument.

-Flashback Start-

"_Kanpai!" All members of the ship shouted with joy as they clicked their mugs together simultaneously._

_Now that they had the supplies for food and drinks they could officially recognize Naruto as a member of the crew. For most members of the ship such as Chopper, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji it didn't take long to get drunk as could be told by the reddening of their cheeks. Though for seventeen year old Naruto and Zoro the two stared at each other with smirks and continued drinking._

"_Zoro stop cheating." Luffy drunkenly said as his rubber body wobbled around._

"_Hehe I win Zoro." Naruto stated with a grin still not drunk. _

"_I didn't cheat you cheated!" Zoro accused. _

_-Flashback End-_

Both were butting heads literally as sparks flew between their eyes. It was then that Zoro brought his Wado Ichimonji showings that he meant to slash Naruto but he actually ended up slashing a piece of meat. Zoro raised his eyebrow as he saw Naruto at a different location right in front of Luffy.

"Wow! You can teleport on the ship too!" Luffy gained stars in his eyes at his own statement. Everyone pondered on the idea before simply nodding it wasn't as farfetched as it sounded. Naruto was the soul of the ship which gave him several abilities one which included lifting the ENTIRE ship up in the air.

Naruto chuckled before shaking his head. "It's a technique from my home country. They had a bunch of them alike and different to it called jutsu." Naruto replied with a grin.

"Thinking about it you never really told us about where you came from." Sanji stated as everyone else nodded their heads. That was actually half-true though since he had told Robin.

"That's a story for another time." Naruto told them still keeping a smile.

Luffy pouted at the wheat the blond said. "Can you at least give us a hint?"

"There's nothing wrong with that." The blond answered. "Where I came from the nations were dominated by ninjas!" The blond shouted with pride.

"Sugoi!" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp shouted. They began making several impressions of ninjas causing Naruto to laugh one more, while Nami sighed at their antics.

After a little while things once again settled down for the Straw Hats as they began to focus on what they would do daily.

"Usopp move it a little to the right." Naruto instructed Usopp who was fixing a piece of the deck. It would turn out Naruto also had the ability of being able to tell what was wrong with the ship and where the problem was I mean it was his "body" right? But besides that the sniper's job of makeshift carpenter would be a lot easier.

Naruto looked at the board on the main deck to see bounties or well a bounty. Luffy currently was the only member of the crew who had a bounty of 30,000,000 and Naruto smirked seeing as that was going to change.

"How much longer till we get to the other side of Jaya." Luffy sighed in boredom. Naruto could agree with his captain on the boredom associated with his sigh.

"We can see the horizon so…" Nami began her answer. "In about an hour."

"Thanks Nami-chan." Naruto thanked causing the girl to slightly blush from the praise. "But what are we going to do in an hour?"

"You could try reading a book." Naruto heard Robin's teasing voice. He looked to see her looking at him with a smile.

He gave a teasing smile right back at her as he poked her shoulder. He grabbed her hand and brought her down to the main floor causing her to have a short term blush.

Naruto felt something land of his hair and moved his eyes up to see Chopper. He smiled at Chopper before continuing to go to the center of the main deck.

"Alright I know what we can do for the hour." Naruto called to everyone on the ship obviously not taking notice that he still was holding Robin's hands. The reindeer on his head until he could bend his head down to Naruto's face.

"What are going to do?" Chopper asked innocently.

"We can tell stories!" Naruto yelled to the crew with a grin. "It's a really relaxing and calm way to past time." Zoro lifted his eyebrow from his slumber upon the crow's nest, before grunting.

"Hehe Zoro I bet you just don't have any good stories to tell." Naruto challengingly questioned with a smirk.

"I have plenty of stories to tell." Zoro replied with a vein popping from his head. Naruto's smirk grew into a grin as he watched Zoro come down from the crow's nest.

"Nice to see that you're joining us Zoro." Naruto teased the swordsman with a foxy grin.

Zoro looked at Naruto with a smirk-grin of his own, if that was possible, as if the blond was irritating him. The two didn't look like it but they were great friends

"I the Great Captain Usopp will start first!" Usopp shouted in pride as he went to the center of the crew's little circle. "It was a very dark stormy night when the Great Captain Usopp who was sailing on his gigantic ship landed on a deserted island that had a nice hot climate… and after Usopp slayed the dragon the town was safe." Only three claps were heard at the story's finish from Naruto, Luffy, and Chopper.

"Sugoi! I didn't know dragons were real!" Luffy exclaimed in excitement.

"Usopp you really saw a dragon!" Chopper exclaimed as the story and was given more excitement when Usopp nodded his head.

"There's no way dragons really exist." Sanji said as he smoked his casual cigarette.

"I'm bored." Zoro sighed before yawning. "I can sleep for another 30 minutes before we finally make it on that island."

"Baka-marimo where are you going you haven't even said a story yet." Sanji more taunted then asked the swordsman. Zoro grunted at Sanji's actions, when it came to blonds Zoro honestly had bad luck it would seem.

"Relax Zoro you don't have to say anything." Naruto smiled to the swordsman. "We still have half an hour so we can play cards or something." The suggestion was contradicted by several groans courtesy of several men of the Strawhats.

"Most of us don't have any money to bet." Usopp sighed.

"I lost all my meat money to Nami." Luffy pouted with a sigh.

"And most of us owe her debts." Sanji commented and everyone looked at Zoro.

"Why's everyone looking at me?!" He shouted.

"Either way Nami-swan looks even lovelier when she takes all my money!" He swirled around with hearts in his eyes.

"Anyways even if we don't bet we already know who's going to win." Usopp once again sighed. Naruto looked to his side to see Nami smiling with pride.

Naruto grinned. "Then let's go Nami me vs. you." The orange-haired navigator looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"If I win you owe me 500 thousand bellies." She cleverly made her wager.

"I wouldn't do it Naruto." Luffy advised.

"If I win then you give me all the money you got from them back." Naruto said putting Nami in it thought about it before shaking his hand and moving to the cards table.

"You got some guts I'll tell you that." Zoro muttered.

"Oh and Zoro you still owe me." Nami commented as the decks were being shuffled.

'Naruto's never going to be able to pay off the debt but maybe I'll cut him some slack since he helped me.' Nami thought as she saw Naruto flash a grin.

"Read em' and weep!" Naruto yelled with a gigantic grin. Nami face faulted as she saw his hand. It was only turn one and he already had gotten a Straight Flush. The men of the crew cheered at Naruto's seemingly impossible feat.

"Now I get my meat money back!" Luffy cheered with a grin.

"B-Best two out of three." Nami stuttered the words she hadn't imagined she would say.

"Don't do it!" Chopper advised still resting on the top of Naruto's head.

"Don't worry. Alright then best two out of three." Naruto agreed. And once again Nami was beaten in a game of cards only less than a minute later.

Nami sighed before staying true to her side of the deal and giving back all the money but unlike they thought she would frown at her lose she was smiling.

'Even though I'm good at gambling Naruto's way too lucky. I could make a fortune with him.' She thought as her eyes sub-consciously became those of the belly sign.

"If she takes you to a casino I advise you-." Usopp began whispering before being cut off.

"Usopp don't you still owe me about 10 thousand bellies." Nami interrupted slyly.

"I don't owe you any-." The sniper once again began before being interrupted by Nami again.

"I guess I'll give you a loan but it'll just increase you interest rate." She continued before being handed a small bag of money from a sighing Usopp.

"She's on to us…" Luffy whispered to Naruto who chuckled. At that moment Luffy's eyes widened as he looked at a directions outwards of the ship. "SUGOI! It's a castle."

Naruto eyed the castle before nodding bluntly. "That's a change." He side noted.

"Look again." Zoro stated to them as he went on the land and motioned towards the back. With the new discovery of the castle just being cardboard that was blocking the actual view of a rather plain house.

-Minor Timeskip-

"The Liar Noland?" Chopper questioned as he heard Sanji spoke. The crew was in the empty house behind the cardboard where they found a book.

"Yea it's a pretty popular fairy tale from the North Blue." He continued. As Sanji explained the tale Naruto listened in interest along with his other crewmates. "And to his last breath he said that he spoke that he was telling the truth and that the City of Gold must have sunken underwater."

"City of Gold…" Naruto breathed with contained excitement. 'I really would want to go there.' Naruto's thought were then broken when he heard some shuffling outside and looked to see a man collapse suddenly on the ground.

-Minor Timeskip-

"So you're the descendent of Montblanc Noland?" Nami questioned.

The man known as Montblanc Cricket nodded. "And to this day I still look for any sign of the City of Gold along with those two idiots." He said the last part while pointing outside to where the monkey brothers were arguing.

"Do you know anything about the Sky Island?" Luffy asked out of curiosity.

The aged man stood up and picked up a book from his counter before flipping a few pages and handing the book to Luffy.

"How's a log book going to help us find out anything about a Sky Island?" Nami questioned looking at the book he Cricket gave them.

"Read it." He simply replied. Nonetheless the crew's eyes widened at the information they read out.

"There really is a Sky Island!" Usopp shouted in excitement.

"To the Sky Island!" Luffy shouted with cheer from the crew.

Naruto laughed in excitement before taking a look at the book himself where he gave it a critical eye.

'Some part is scribbled out.' He thought before bring the book closer to his eye. He could just barely make out what it wrote due to the scribbles. Though the little piece he read made his eye widen.

"Something wrong Naruto?" Chopper called from on top of Naruto's head a little bit of concern on his face.

"N-Nothing!" Naruto hastily replied. "Just excited that we have proof of Sky Island." Naruto half-lied, he was definitely excited for Sky Island of Skypeia but it wasn't exactly the reason he was in shock,

As nightfall fell on the little island of Jaya, the Straw Hat Crew did anything they could do to prepare for the night materials for the trip to the Sky Island. It wouldn't be easy gathering the materials but one thing is for sure… time isn't on their side!\

TO BE CONTINUED

**A/N: Very short chapter than usual but I decided that instead of finishing the Jaya Arc this chapter I should use it as filler and show you how Naruto's relationship with the crew is going. Sometimes I will have to do this so I can relax from canon but this actually may be the only filler in a while due to the Jaya Arc coming to a close.**

**I can almost 100% guarantee that the Jaya Arc will finish next chapter but that and the next chapter after that may be somewhat delayed so that I can make sure I have my facts right before I change the plot in believable measures.**

**Thanks for the support guys! Keep it up! See ya!**


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